As my parents celebrated their fortieth wedding anniversary, I traveled down memory lane.
I have pleasant memories from my childhood because my parents were intentional about everything that happened in our house. Home was a refuge. A safe and comfortable place filled with love. And Jesus was there.
I now recognize how blessed I was to have had a safe home. As a kid, I thought my life was just like everyone else’s, but over the years, my eyes were opened. As an adult, I work hard to create that same safe environment in my home. So many children and adults never experience a safe and secure feeling, so I want to make it available to anyone who steps foot inside my house and might need it.
I’ve seen enough to realize that sometimes making home a refuge is not possible. Alcohol, abuse, neglect, and many other factors often infiltrate homes—variables the peacemakers have no control over. I see many who long for their home to be a refuge but can’t figure out how to make it happen.
Joshua challenged the people he led to choose God as their refuge.
Even when making home a refuge seems impossible, we can still choose to let our lives be a refuge for others—a safe space where people feel free to be themselves and take off their masks. We can love well, inviting people into our world rather than pushing them away or making them feel inferior. We can love genuinely, even if it means getting hurt in the process. Showing them Jesus and helping them grow in their walk with the Lord can make a difference in their lives.
Whether it’s our home or ourselves, or maybe a little of both, we can look at our life and think about what needs to change. Perhaps some attitudes need throwing out. Maybe unsafe practices need to be removed. If Jesus isn’t at the center of everything we do, He should be. God will give us the necessary steps to create a refuge for others.
In the middle of this crazy world, be a refuge for the ones around you. It might just change their life.
(Photo courtesy of pixabay.)
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Christy Bass Adams is a mother of two boys. She uses her past classroom experience to teach future educators at Saint Leo University and at North Florida College. Christy serves as the Outreach and Connections Coordinator of Fellowship Baptist Church in Madison, Florida. She also writes a weekly inspirational column in Greene Publishing and maintains a regular blog. When she isn’t teaching or writing, you can find her sitting by the fire, wetting a line in the river, or spending time with her boys. For more from Christy, visit her blog: www.christybassadams.com.